The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1887-09-01

SeOuo uO"s IL YOU CuOOSS, 6C Cu6 QrlC0
We fixed on last night and he held
the ring out to me.
"But ! had to get my letter of cred.
it cashed, and l agreed to meet tho
American in the billiard.room in an
hours's time and conclude the tran.
saction.
mo one was in the billiard.room
when l entered it (tor it was still ear
ly in the day. except the American,
who was standing by the empty fire.
place. The transfer did not occupy
more than five seconds, and
the Yankee Immediately proposed
drinks. These being discussed, We
separated, and I saw no more Of my
friend from the States that day.
"That evening after dinner had.
pened to be sitting not far from the
fireplace in the billiard.room, when
noticed a small round object lying
Just inside the marble ie:.der. Curious
to know what it was I left my seat
and picked it up. 1t was a jewelers.
ring case-not an uncommon article,
certainly, yet hardly tho sort OF thing
one often sees on the floor OF q bill
liard-room.
"Suddenly l remembered that the
American had been standing close to
the spot where found it, when, ear.
lier in the day, had exchanged my
1000 francs worth OF notes for his
diamond. An uncomfortable feel.
ing crossed my mind. What did he
want with q ring case2 He had
been wearing the ring he sold to me-.
He might have kept case for it, of
course and might have thrown it
away when he parted with the ring;
yet that seemed an unusual sort of g.
thing for a. man to do.
II opened the case. The makers
name was inscribed in gilt letters in
side the lid, and the address glvenwas
Paris. 'Paris!' said to myself. He
said the ring had been bought in Bra
zil.' There was no real ground for
suspicion, yet was uneasy. l vent
upstairs and took out the ring. The
pattern-you see it is q peculiar one
| remembered we'll. Somehow
judged, or fancied, that the diamond
did not shine as brightly as it had
done the night before.
next morning took the ring to q
second jeweler and asked him his
opinion as to its value. He exam
ined the diamond carefully and laid it
down on the glass case before him
with one contemptuous word:
"'Paste!
"'Pastel' Ieohoed. '1mpossible!'
"Certalnly paste, and q very good
imitation, he replied, turning away.
"My heart sank within me. Eighty
pounds was sum l could ill afford to
loose. It meant summary end to
my holidays, not to speak of embar-
easements that would last some time.
with q faint hope that the second
expert had been mistaken, took the
ring to the jeweler who had offered the
American 5000 francs for it.
"He seemed pleased to sec me, but
as soon as he glanced at the ring his
face changed.
"'This is not the same ring you
showed me yesterday he said in a
tone that made it plain that he
thought meant to cheat him. AT
least he added, it is not the same
stone. This is not stone at all; it is
paste.
$50 l have been told.' I said sad
ly. Are you sure the jewel l showed
you yesterday was a genuine dia.
mond?'
Z" am certain al it, he answered.
"The honorable conduct las had
thought it, of the stranger in refusing
to sell to the ieweler was uow intelli.
gible. The jeweler meant to keep the
real stone. 1t was not difficult to see
now the fraud had been managed.
The swindler had had two rings made
exactly alike of a striking and pecu-
liar pattern. In one of them he had
placed genuine and very fine dia-
mond. This was the decoy. In the
other he had put q false diamond,
closely resembling in size and shape
the genuine one in the first ring.
The one he wore and offered to sell
was the true stone. When he had got
it back from the jeweler he had kept
it and had given me the sham one in
exchange for my $50. What was I to
do.
The first thing was to. ascertain
whether my friend had left the hotel.
OF course he had-on the afternoon of
the previous day; still the scent was
so hot. l fancied / should have little
difficulty in tracing him. But when
found him my difficulties would only
begin. OF coures he would swear that
he had sold me the ring with the stone
which the jeweler had declared to be
genuine. l might, conceivably, nave
substituted paste for the true gem as
we'll as he. In any case, when l
thought of the difficulty OF getting
back my money from an American
wandering about Europe, my heart
sank within me. Even If the police
consented to help me. taking my word
against his, even if the rogue were con.
vlcted. how was to recover the 1000
francs.
"These thoughts passed through
my mind as l hurried back to the no.
tel. Certainly the prospect was
gloomy enough.
II easily asce:tained that the Amer
lean had taken the trainfor Paris the
day before, and determined to follow
him at once. l did not despair of
finding him, as he would probably put
up at one of the good hotels.
"On the way up to Paris I could
think of nothing but my loss. This
fellow saw had hit upon a very safe
and profitable method Of swindling.
In nine cases out of ten the cheated
man would not discover his loss for
for years after he had seen the last of
the American, if, indeed. the trick was
discovered at all, for tho paste was
quite good enough to deceive a casual
observer, and the owner would, of
course, be actuated by a profound
faith in his diamond straight from
Brazil. Had it not been for the Incl
dent of my finding the ring case
which the rogue had accidentally
dropped, / should in all probability
have unwittingly cheated poor Tu.
renne out OF his money, and he might
afterward have been supposed to be
trying to palm off q spurious diar
mond for a realgem. In all probabili-
ty the fellow made g. hving-and a
very good one-by going about Eu-
rope and practicing this trick.
"This idea sent off my thoughts on
a new track, and by the time I had
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